Vindaloo.curry

Fresh on the skin: Woh! *Major* gardenia (no surprise there, with me), with wonderful undercurrents of heavy honey (buckwheat, or maybe even manuka) with a unifying ginger spike.

...and nine years later Spellbound is still just as ambery, with the tantalizing hint of rose. I love me amber, red musks, sandalwood, and dragon's blood. Can't get enough.

Bottle: strong, a little penetrating, sweet-ish. Root beer-ish impression. Wet on skin: very, very sweet. Musk peeks out, but almost no sandalwood. Dry: a little throw, a tiny bit of sandalwood. Nothing dry at all, which is disappointing. No dust. All in all, not much like the description. (I ramp up sweet notes like crazy, but I usually amp sandalwood as well--but not this time.)

Came as a frimp when my last eBay buy brought me a 5ml of The Ghost. Most definite muscadine notes when wet and on drydown. (Muscadine grapes have a much heavier scent and taste than table grapes.) The patchouli comes through on me as a dry earthy smell. A very heavy fruit smell with strong earth notes. One of the previous posters compared to the smell of an old head shop, and that's not far off on me. After a couple of hours, I've decided I'm not the biggest Urd fan on earth. 3 out of 10. (But neat coincidence--I just finished American Gods, in which Urd's Well, and its water, plays a role.)

Got this one as a frimp, along with Tweedledee. In the imp: Loamy, with a hint of the butteriness alluded to by many. Sharp spice. Wet: Pretty much faithful to the imp. Interesting. Drydown: OMG! What wonderful white pepper! Sneaks up from behind, grabs you by the back of the neck and gives a good shake! Sharp, without the harsh mineral bite. Ginger notes (hence the slight sweetness)--just a bit curry-ish. Freshly turned loam without too much of the green edge that rich soils carry. Verdict: Very evocative. May have to have a 5ml of this one. 4 out of 5.

Got an imp from a ::good:: friend. Now I know why she gave it to me. Wet: Dragon's blood, indeed! Drydown: More cinnamon, with just a peek of the sweet (patchouli? vetiver?) Dry: Really lovely and warm. Good cinnamon (not the RedHots type!), and that Dragon's blood keep leering at me. Verdict: top ten (all the time), top three (in the winter) -- Vindaloo

My auction results arrived yesterday, so of course I had to try one on before bed. The natural was Smut (naturally!). I don't get the maple syrup (much), but I do find traces of wood, and the musk blends are yummy! The throw is not very strong on me after an hour, but hooboy! that first hour!